


Merry Go Round Of Life

by stxrdrifter



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Bisexual Takamaki Ann, Catgirl Makoto, F/F, Fluff, Lesbian Niijima Makoto, Lesbian Okumura Haru, Multi, Nekoto hehehe, Pining, Trans Okumura Haru, Very Flirty Takamaki Ann, YES I SAID CATGIRL MAKOTO, fuck it, very light references to sex in chapter 1
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:00:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29299290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stxrdrifter/pseuds/stxrdrifter
Summary: Makoto Niijima is a Nekomata hiding in from the government. She also happens to run a cafe. She's also very gay. Hijinks ensue.Written for my friend Talise :)
Relationships: Niijima Makoto/Okumura Haru, Niijima Makoto/Okumura Haru/Takamaki Ann, Niijima Makoto/Takamaki Ann, Okumura Haru/Takamaki Ann
Comments: 1
Kudos: 16





	1. Clair De Lune

Makoto didn’t know how to describe “business as usual”. 

Makoto Niijima somehow managed to run the most inconsistently busy coffee shop in the entire city of Tokyo. Her open hours were not anything special or out of the ordinary (6am to 4pm) and she was tucked away in a corner of a small alley in Kichijoji, but somehow it ended up being as crowded as possible at completely irregular times.

Although Makoto did have an idea as to why it was crowded at such weird times.

Every so often, a girl with soft auburn hair and cute brown eyes and a very soft and pretty looking pink sweater would come in and play the out of tune upright grand piano that sat in the corner of the cafe. Makoto didn’t put it there, she didn’t know why it was there, but it was annoying to move so she simply left it be. Sometimes customers would play simple songs or whatever was on the radio, so she had to institute some rules that only paying customers (ie not the middle schoolers from down the road) may play the piano.

And this girl… holy  _ fuck  _ could she play. 

_ Clair De Lune _ by Debussy,  _ Merry Go Round of Life _ by Hisaishi,  _ Country Roads _ by John Denver (occasionally featuring Yusuke Kitagawa, local artist, on the violin and/or vocals) and so much more. Her setlist was wide and beautiful and amazing and what Makoto looked forward to in her day. 

But of course, all good things come with a price, and this good thing came with the physical pain of her ears trying to perk up under her headband.

Look, it wasn’t her fault that she became a nekomata. It just ended up happening. She started out as a regular cat, got old, and ended up becoming human because of some magic nonsense Makoto didn’t understand. When more nekomata started popping up, and subsequently being heavily investigated by the government, Makoto immediately went into hiding. She tucked her ears into a hat or a headband and hoped that nobody would find out when she transformed back into a cat behind the garbage cans for free train rides. 

“My name is Okumura, by the way! Okumura Haru.” 

Makoto was shaken out of her daze by the girl—the pianist—at her counter. It was a non-busy day, and a crowd hadn’t followed her into the shop it seemed. It was actually the first time they’d had a real conversation outside of “one black coffee please” and “coming right up!” 

“N-Niijima Makoto. Nice to meet you.” Makoto struggled to not inform this girl that she was literally the prettiest person ever, managing barely to succeed. Her ears twitched under her cap.

“Makoto! Such a pretty name!” Haru said. She smiled, clasped her hands together, and her eyes widened all in the cutest possible way that Makoto was sure her heart was going to cease functioning.

Makoto’s cheeks were hot. “Th-thanks. Uh, can I get you anything? Your usual perhaps?”

Haru pressed her finger to her chin and tilted her head. “No, I want to try something new. Surprise me!”

Makoto shuddered. She  _ hated  _ customers asking her to give them something random, never knowing what to make in the best of times, but this was a girl that Makoto had been speaking to for all of thirty seconds and developed a massive crush on, making everything way more difficult. 

Chai Green Latte. A little complex, fun to make, and shows off that Makoto can make more complex drinks if she so desires. Simple.

“Coming right up!” 

While Makoto brewed the coffee, Haru began to play something on the piano once again. The coffee shop was empty, allowing the acoustics of the room to shine through. The piano reverberated through the space, chords and melodies floating through the open air from Haru’s fingers to Makoto’s hidden ears. It wasn’t a song Makoto recognized, but she stopped what she was doing altogether to listen to it. It was beautiful.

And moments later, Haru stopped playing and her drink was ready. She returned to the counter to collect it, and for the first time ever, she stayed.

“What was that song called?” Makoto asked her. 

Haru shrugged. “I don’t know. I made it up on the spot.”

The nekomata’s jaw dropped. “You’re kidding, right? It was way too pretty to be improvised! There’s no way.”

The auburnette laughed, and Makoto felt herself fall even further. Haru sipped her drink before answering, “I’ve been playing since I was a little girl. I know all sorts of things. Improvisation is pretty easy once you’ve been studying theory for over a decade.”

Makoto nervously chuckled. “Yeah, that makes sense.” She didn’t know the first thing about music. How was she supposed to keep up?

“So, why did you start working here?”

Makoto felt her ears try to perk up once again, and she winced at the pain. “What do you mean?” She hoped her wincing wasn’t obvious.

“This coffee shop. It’s really out of the way. I hear it used to be a piano studio, but it closed down after it was discovered to be a front for drugs.” Haru’s eyes shone nothing but curiosity and sincerity at Makoto, luring every one of Makoto’s secrets out of her.

And so of course, Makoto took the bait. “I thought it would be fun. My ex works at a coffee shop, and he says it’s fun. He practically runs the place, actually. I thought I’d try out my own little business venture, see how it went.” 

Haru nodded along as she listened intently. “I see. You know, it gets kind of busy in here. Sometimes it looks like you could use an extra set of hands.” The girl leaned on the counter and Makoto stepped back instinctively, not sure what was about to happen. “I might know a thing or two about coffee, and a couple other things about business management, if you’re interested.”

“Are you trying to apply?”

“... Maybe.”

Makoto started laughing. “That is easily the weirdest way anyone has ever applied here.” She leaned back against the counter behind her, putting all of her energy into having some kind of suave demeanor. “I’ll think about it, alright?”

Haru nodded. “Of course!” 

Of course, Makoto already had an answer. She desperately needed more hands, more knowledge on how to run a business, more knowledge on how to  _ make fucking coffee _ , but she couldn’t let it so easily go that she was that desperate. She had to pretend she had it at least a little bit under control or else she might scare Haru off with how poorly the establishment was managed. 

“It’s funny though,” Haru said inquisitively, pulling Makoto out of her thoughts once again. “Most people I know avoid certain careers because of their exes. Why are you going into one? Do you still like him?”

“No, no no no,” Makoto said with a chuckle. “We’re still friends. The breakup was mutual, since I came out as gay and they came out as a couple things, we sort of realized we were better as friends, and it just ended up being a really clean breakoff, so we remained friends.” Makoto neglected to mention that the first time they…  _ slept together _ , Akira had given her a high five afterwards because it was so weird.

(She was also really glad that the second person to find out about her… abilities was the best secret keeper she’d ever met. That, and his cat Morgana happened to be the same as Makoto, so it would be hypocritical of him to report her or out her.)

Haru’s cheeks turned pink and she wore an adorable smile. “That’s amazing! I’m glad you’re still friends, and that you’re gay.”

“What?”

Haru’s eyes widened. “What did I say?”

Makoto laughed. “You’re glad I’m gay?”

Haru turned an even brighter shade of pink. “W-well yeah! You know, I’m glad you can live your authentic truth, you know? That you can be you! The world is a much more colorful place with all kinds of people in it.” 

_ She’s gay _ , Makoto immediately thought, before going into high speed doubt. Her blush could be nerves, she could be saying all those things to reinforce her allyship, whatever Makoto could come up with to not accept that Haru might actually be into her.

Their conversation fell slowly into something casual. Makoto loosened up a bit, felt more comfortable talking to the very very pretty girl in front of her, until it was time for Haru to leave. The moment Haru left, Makoto felt herself release a breath she had no clue she was holding until it was gone. Her chest felt lighter, her shoulders untensed, and everything relaxed. And then Haru came back in twenty seconds later and Makoto felt all that tension return.

“I forgot my keys!” She said with a smile. Makoto giggled, and Haru left again, and the coffee shop returned to mundane silence. A few customers here and there, but nothing as interesting or as captivating as Haru’s conversation. Makoto even tried to play something on the piano, but failed miserably to create anything of value. She closed the lid of the piano and began to lock up the store.

Thankfully, nobody ever bothered to question a dark brown cat boarding the Tokyo subway, because if they did then Makoto would be out her free rides. Makoto made a half decent amount of money at her job, but she was going to scam the system as much as she could. Plus, she got free pets from depressed high schoolers, and they seemed to always know the best spots (which were right behind her ears). 

She’d somehow earned the name “Queen” by some of the regular rail operators. She supposed it had something to do with the little crown of fur around her ear, but there was no definitive answer. Someone came up with it behind her back and it ended up sticking.

Her apartment was quiet when she got home. It was an unusual thing to arrive home to. Normally her roommate, Ryuji Sakamoto, would be in the living room playing games or reading manga with music on loud, but for the first time she came home and it was dead silent.

She peered around looking for him. Not in the bathroom, his bedroom,  _ her  _ bedroom, any closet, nowhere. His shoes and keys were gone, though, so she assumed he went to the store and called it a day. She pulled off her bandana, changed out of her uncomfortable uniform and into a hoodie and sweatpants, and threw herself onto the couch with a manga and her phone set to random jazz. (On her phone was a text from Ryuji saying he’d be out with a friend when she got home, confirming her theory.)

A few hours passed and Ryuji burst into the apartment. “Wazzup?!” He shouted, definitely earning them a noise complaint.

Makoto’s ears perked up, sending bits of pain through her nerves from being restrained for eleven hours straight. “Welcome home, Sakamoto. What did you get up to today?” She said with an emphasized straight laced tone.

Ryuji chuckled nervously. “Woah, Prez, am I in trouble? What’s going on? You never call me Sakamoto.”

Makoto giggled. “Sorry, sorry, I’m just giving you a hard time.” She pushed herself off the couch and gave him a friendly hug before walking herself back to the couch. “Where did you go?”

The blond boy set his stuff down on the counter and opened the fridge. “I was hanging out with Akira and Ann. You remember them, right?”

“Akira yes, Ann no. Who’s she?” Makoto shouted into the kitchen. 

Ryuji pulled a can of orange soda from the fridge and pushed it shut with his hips. “You’d love her, she’s—” He was interrupted by the ring of his phone: The ringtone he set for his  _ boss _ . Makoto knew this was going to be good as he nervously picked up the phone. “Sakamoto speaking.”

Makoto, even from the distance, could hear his boss yelling. She had to stifle her laughter, knowing it would quite easily be picked up and her roommate might end up being in more trouble than he already is. 

He hung up after apologizing profusely for “not calling in, I had food poisoning and ended up sleeping all day, I’m so sorry, I’ll be in tomorrow,” and Makoto immediately burst out laughing.

“You skipped work to hang out with your boyfriend?!” She shouted, so completely in hysterics that she almost fell off the couch.

Ryuji scowled back at her. “N-no! He’s not my boyfriend!” Of course, Makoto knew he was lying. She’d spend enough time listening to him brood over how pretty Akira was that she knew, even by the tint of his cheeks, they were together. 

“I know you’re dating, Ryuji.” She stood up and patted him on the shoulder reassuringly. “It’s cute how much you care about him. I’m glad you’re happy.”

The boy gave a meek smile. “Thanks, Makoto.” His eyes trailed upwards to Makoto’s twitching ears, giving them a gentle scratch. “How are they feeling?”

The nekomata groaned. “I have to keep them wrapped up so tightly and every time that girl comes in they try to perk up and— UGHHH!!! It hurts…” She pouted, leaning into her friend’s gentle massage. “Thank you, Ryuji. That feels nice.”

“One day, Makoto,” he said. “One day you won’t have to wear that annoying hat, and everything will be fine.”

She pulled him into another hug. Ryuji was one of the only people that knew she was a nekomata, and he’d been incredibly helpful to her ever since he found out. She was lucky to be able to rely on him, especially in high school when she had to learn how all of human society worked in a short period and ended up being elected for Student Council President on top of that. The world became very tough very fast for her, and he was there for her to lean on. She would always be grateful for that.

The two ended up spending the evening watching Featherman, followed by various anime the two had been binging. Anything from  _ Cowboy Bebop  _ to  _ Little Witch Academia  _ to  _ Soul Eater _ (Makoto’s personal favourite, what could she say, the magical cat was hot) and many things in between. Eventually, the sun set, and Makoto’s cat instincts kicked in and told her it was time to sleep. She wished Ryuji a goodnight and crawled into bed, letting herself doze off curled around a Buchimaru dakimakura. 

_ She found herself back at the cafe. She didn’t remember coming here, and things were a little warbly, so she knew this must have been a dream. Piano chords and choruses filled the space, leading her eyes to see Haru seated on the bench, delicate hands against the ivory keys.  _

_ “What’cha playing?” She found herself asking. _

_ “It’s a song I wrote for you,” Haru replied. “I haven’t decided on a name yet, though.” _

_ Makoto sat on the bench next to Haru and found herself leaning on the pianist’s shoulder. She felt the brush of Haru’s soft hair against her ears, but for whatever reason, she wasn’t worried about them being out in the open. She felt safe. _

_ “Hey.” Haru had stopped playing and was trying to get Makoto’s attention. _

_ Makoto sat up and looked at the pianist. “Yes?” _

_ And then Haru leaned in, closing the space between them. Her eyes lidded shut, and Makoto in turn felt herself leaning forwards as well.  _

And then she was awake. In bed. At home, alone, curled around a Buchimaru dakimakura, with her alarm beeping obnoxiously at her. She batted the alarm clock until it went quiet, leaving her in the silence of her room.

Her chest heaved. “What the hell was that?”

She got dressed, brushed her teeth, combed her hair, the whole shebang, and made her way once again to work. The early morning train ride was quiet as usual, as well as the walk to the shop. She hid herself behind a trash can before transforming back into her human self and unlocked the shop, preparing to start the day.

But a nagging thought continued to distract her as she went through the opening procedures. The warmth of her dream. The feeling of safety. The sound of Haru’s playing. All of it stayed firmly and rang loudly in the back of her mind. The feeling of tension without release as they were about to—Makoto chose not to think about that part of the dream.

It was weird, right? Having a dream like that about a customer? If she were a close friend, maybe, but a customer? No, that was weird. She texted Ryuji, who said it wasn’t all that weird, but what did he know? 

The first few customers filed in. All regulars, so she had their orders ready by muscle memory, which meant she didn’t need to think. Thank god for that one, because if she needed any amount of her brain capacity right now, she’d be doomed.

She tried her best to push it all back, and for a bit it had worked, until exactly 10:27am when she randomly started making a fresh cup of coffee. Why was she making coffee? Nobody ordered it, who was it—

The bell above the door rang. Makoto looked over. It was Haru.

Oh. Of  _ course _ . Of course she’d accidentally memorized whenever Haru arrived. Of course she had memorized when to start making her order so it was ready by the time she’d arrived. Of course she hadn’t even charged her today like the dumb gay mess she was.

“Here, it’s on the house today!” She chirped at her hopeless crush. 

Haru smiled, and Makoto wanted to die. “What’s the occasion?” she said in her stupidly sweet and stupidly adorable voice.

Makoto’s ears hurt. “No occasion in particular, just felt like it, y’know?”

Haru sipped at her coffee, humming an appreciative noise that somehow made Makoto fall even harder. “I see! Well, to no occasion in particular then!” She raised the mug, and Makoto clinked it with her knuckle.

“Cheers.”

And of course, because the world hated her, Makoto remembered the perfect opportunity to spend more time with Haru she had sitting on her desk waiting to be abused for sapphic intentions. And of course, because she hated herself apparently, she started speaking.

“By the way, are you still interested in working here?”

Haru perked up, her eyes shooting open with interest. “Of course!”

“Well, consider yourself hired!”

_ Fuck. I’m such an idiot. _


	2. Nocturne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new employee starts her job at Makoto's coffee shop.

Makoto wouldn’t necessarily say she  _ regretted  _ hiring Haru, the current apple of her eye, the biggest and gayest crush she’d ever had, literally the most perfect woman to exist, but it did make things  _ annoying _ .

Haru started at the cafe the following day, which might have been a mistake. Makoto was a pretty late sleeper, and apparently Haru was not, since when Makoto arrived, not in the form of a human, Haru was standing right outside on her phone waiting.  _ Luckily _ , the streets of Kichijoji weren’t busy at this hour, which meant Makoto could just hide around the corner and transform into her human form, but she decided to make sure to be at work extra early from now on.

And so the nightmare began.

Haru was good at making coffee, and when Makoto said good she meant  _ a fucking prodigy. _ Somehow, despite the fact that Makoto was using beans she got at the grocery store, Haru was able to get the richest and most amazing smells and flavours out of every pot she brewed. 

It also didn’t help watching Haru interact with the public. Makoto tried to be kind, tried to be nice and caring and charismatic, but something about the way Haru spoke to people just made her feel like she couldn’t compare. Haru had charm, she had a soft kindness that, no matter how hard she tried, Makoto would never be able to replicate. And she fell  _ hard _ . Hard as a bag of rocks falls to the ocean floor. Watching Haru assist elderly customers to their seats, watching her put so much love into every cup of coffee, Makoto was floored.

“Niijima-san, are you alright? You’ve been rather quiet today.” 

Haru’s soft voice, suddenly directed at her, snapped her out of her dumb gay thoughts. She was  _ not  _ prepared to interact with Haru right now, but it was happening, so she hoped for the best. “I-I’m fine, just kind of distracted.”

“Is something wrong?” Haru ducked her head. “Is it me? Am I not doing a good job?”

Makoto’s heart cracked at the sight of a nervous Haru. “N-no! No, you’re doing fantastic! That’s… why I’m distracted. You’re way better at all this than I am.”

Haru laughed. “Don’t be silly! You’re great, I’m just…  _ showing off. _ ” She gave a wink and returned to her post and Makoto could have  _ sworn  _ her heart completely stopped for a few minutes. 

The day continued as normal; Makoto serving customers, Haru completely blowing her away, her messing up more than one order for the first time because she’s super distracted and super gay, the usual.

And then Makoto realized the universe hated her when fucking Ann Takamaki, model extraordinaire and her ex boyfriend’s best friend, decided to walk into the establishment and set Makoto’s heart on fire.

Her blond hair, normally styled to hell and back for her shoots (which Makoto always bought because they were a good source of information on human fashion and had nothing to do with her homosexuality) was done up in a loose bun. She had thick glasses—glasses Makoto could have  _ sworn  _ belonged to Akira—that looked way too good on her. She wore a crop-top tank top—maybe a bralette, Makoto didn’t know—with a zip up hoodie over her shoulders, and Makoto died instantly.

Metaphorically. In reality, she could not feel more alive.

(Makoto had seen the girl before in high school, but they never spoke. To think she’d come this far.)

Akira, nice almost mute ex boyfriend, came in as well and gave Makoto a wave, but Makoto continued to just stare at Ann. She didn’t even register how much her ears were hurting right now because  _ holy shit cute girl alert wow oh my god she’s so pretty can we make out please please please _ —

“Hey! You’re the cute student council president! How are you?”

Oh. She was speaking to her. Makoto needed to say words. Uh.

“I-I’m good!” Makoto tried to say. 

Ann giggled. “That’s good to hear! Can I get… hmm…” She looked across the menu, and Makoto got a chance to analyze her features (for science! Not because she was gay!) and see that she had freckles across her nose. Her eyes twinkled in the light, whether because of the glasses or something else. She was  _ really  _ pretty up close. “Can I get a decaf french vanilla please?”

Makoto shook herself out of her not gay ogling. “Y-yeah, I can get that for you! Will that be everything?” She answered, hoping the shakiness in her voice wasn’t super obvious. Her heart was racing a mile a minute. She was probably having an allergic reaction because pretty girls were her kryptonite.

(She’d said that line to Ryuji once and he told her it made absolutely no sense but she kept it anyway.)

Ann pressed her finger to her chin before turning to Akira. She whispered something to him and he shook his head. “Nope, that’ll be all!” 

“A-alright, that will be ¥250 please!” 

Ann handed over the change and Makoto felt herself die internally for the brief and exactly three whole microseconds their fingers touched before she put the money in the register and walked away to make the drink. Somehow, by some divine happenstance, Makoto didn’t mess up the drink.

This is because she let Haru make it, but she took that as a win.

Makoto also pretended her heart didn’t break just a little bit when she saw Ann flirting with Haru at the other counter. She pretended she didn’t notice Haru turn a bright pink at Ann’s flirting. She pretended not to be hurt when Haru approached her later and fangirled over how pretty Ann is.

Makoto shut down for the rest of the day. She focused on her job, made drinks well, and got paid. At the end of the day, they’d made a decent amount. Makoto prepared all the money to go to the safe when Haru finally came into the office to confront her.

“Hey, is everything alright? You’ve been really quiet since lunch.” Haru’s voice was so gentle and caring that Makoto wanted to just cry, to just let everything she was feeling unload onto this girl’s shoulders. It wasn’t reasonable to be hurt because people she wasn’t dating were flirting, but it still stung anyway. 

Makoto sighed. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She tried her best to cover up her shaky voice, but it still came through.

Haru leaned the broom she was holding against the door and sat next to Makoto. “Mako-chan, don’t lie to me. I can tell something’s bothering you.”

Makoto didn’t even know how to put into words that she was upset because her coworker and first crush had been flirting with her friend’s friend and second crush. No, she was  _ flirted at _ . There’s a difference. But Haru showed an emotional response, so it must have been mutual, right?

So she let her head fall into her hands. She didn’t cry, or weep, or make a sound. She just sat there, her face against her palms, in silence. She didn’t even make a squeaking noise when Haru rested her hand on Makoto’s head. She didn’t resist Haru’s thumb rubbing across her compressed ears. She winced in pain when her ears tried to move again, but it was quiet. 

“Mako-chan?”

When had Makoto earned that moniker?

“Why do you wear this headband all the time? It looks like it hurts a lot.”

Makoto didn’t resist as Haru reached around and untied the band. She just looked away, her fear drained by sadness. When her headband fell to the floor, and when Haru didn’t speak, she knew why. 

Haru hated her.

“Oh my god! You’re—”

“I  _ know _ ,” Makoto bit back. Her voice sounded angry, emotional exhaustion feeding into it. She didn’t want to hear Haru’s words of disgust.

“They’re so cute!!” 

…  _ What? _

“What?”

Makoto looked up. Her ears naturally flexed to relieve the tension in them before sitting back as Makoto stared Haru down in confusion. Haru was absolutely  _ beaming _ . Her eyes practically sparkled, her smile was so wide, and she really looked like she—

“I wanna pet them!” 

—wanted to pet them.

Makoto’s heart picked up. Birds she used to hunt began to flutter in her chest. Her eyes fell away from Haru, an attempt to hide her blush because Haru’s starstruck expression was so goddamn  _ cute _ . 

“I-if you want,” she mumbled. Who was she to deny that?

As she said it, she felt a gentle pressure against the back of her ear. She winced just a bit, nerves on high alert and adrenaline rushing through her veins. Makoto worried she’d feel like some kind of zoo animal, but the touch was kind. It was… nice.

Haru scratched gently behind her ear, and it felt really nice. Of course, because it felt nice, Makoto began to blush harder.

“Is this okay?” Haru asked, her sweet gentle voice soothing Makoto’s anxieties, because of  _ course  _ she’d ask to make sure. Haru was just nice like that.

Makoto, currently having an immense gay panic, nodded nervously. “Y-yeah, it feels nice.”

“Mako-chan? Can I tell you something?” Makoto looked up. Haru was also blushing, for reasons Makoto did not know and was honestly kind of fearful of. This couldn’t be a  _ feelings _ blush, right? Haru was straight, at least Makoto was pretty sure because Haru had no reason to be gay, so this was a nervous blush. Or maybe she was feverish. Maybe she ate something, or just had naturally rosy cheeks, or or or—

“Sure,” Makoto answered before her thoughts got out of hand.

Haru pressed her fingers together, definitely implying it wasn’t a feverish blush or naturally rosy cheeks or that she ate something. “So, I may, uh… I hope you don’t hate me for this, but I…” The girl looked away. Makoto could practically hear Haru’s heartbeat, she seemed so nervous.

“You…? What’s going on, Haru?” Somehow, Haru’s immense nervousness calmed Makoto’s nerves. Maybe it was because she had a natural inclination to be the mom friend?

The auburnette took in a deep breath. “ItookthisjobbecauseIthinkyou’rereallycuteanduhyeah!” She shouted. Her eyes clamped shut, unable to see Makoto’s absolutely baffled expression because Makoto didn’t understand a word she had just said. 

(Well, she did, but she couldn’t be sure if her ears were deceiving her.)

(Spoilers: they weren’t.)

“... can you repeat that?”

Haru’s eyes moved frantically. “I… uh…” Makoto leaned forwards in anticipation. Haru bit her lip nervously, her hands twitched, she looked like she was struggling.

Makoto reached between them and held her hands. “It’s okay, Haru. You can tell me.”

In a single moment, Haru’s eyes focused, her hands stayed still, her nervousness visibly faded. Haru looked on at Makoto, her eyes wide and soft, her pupils dilated, her cheeks rosy. 

And in the next moment, Haru leaned forwards and kissed Makoto.

Makoto hesitated for just a moment, taking in the surprise of it all, before she leaned into the kiss. Haru’s lips were soft, and she tasted like cherries. She smelled like them too, Makoto only just noticed. Fireworks were launched in her chest, electricity crackled across her skin, everything immediately felt so good, so right, so nice. It was a feeling she hadn’t felt with Akira, and she wanted more and more now.

But eventually, as all things do, it came to an end. Haru pulled away, and so too did Makoto. “Woah,” the brunette breathed.

The auburnette tensed. “O-oh! I’m sorry, I thought—you know, since you told me you were… uh… I thought—”

“ _ Woah. _ ” Makoto could feel her brain short circuiting. “That was… woah. I… I don’t even know what to say.”

Haru pushed her chair away and stood up. “Uh, sorry! I think I misinterpreted everything, because you were super cute and fidgety all day when we were working, and you were blushing a lot whenever I flirted with you, so I thought—” Haru cut herself off with a bow, “I’m sorry, I’ll just go.”

She turned to walk away but was stopped by Makoto grabbing her wrist, her brain finally having rebooted. “No! Um. It’s fine!”

Haru turned. “What? But I—mmph!” Makoto cut her off with another kiss, holding the girl’s cheeks in her hands. The fireworks were less, but the feeling of Haru’s arms wrapping up around Makoto’s neck to hold herself up made up for it in spades. Makoto knew she was six inches taller than Haru, and with this new feeling she intended to take full advantage of it. 

And again, they broke away. Haru held herself steady against Makoto, balancing precariously on her toes. “Woah,” she breathed.

Makoto giggled. “Woah indeed.”

“But I thought you liked Takamaki-san!” Haru exclaimed. “She was flirting with you earlier, and you were blushing, so I thought maybe… you liked her.” Haru’s voice softened as she revealed her thoughts. 

Makoto remembered the fluttering in her chest when Ann had flirted with her (if calling her cute could be considered flirting). She also remembered the look on Haru’s face when Ann had flirted with  _ her. _

“B-but I thought  _ you  _ liked Takamaki-san!” Makoto returned. “You were blushing too when you talked to her!”

“Well I do, but—!” Haru put a hand to her lips. “Wait! Wait, no, I do but I also like you!” She sighed. “Feelings are so weird.”

Makoto pressed a finger to her chin and began to ponder. She knew she liked Haru, the way Haru had been playing her store piano for the past few months always made her heart soar, but Ann was the same way with her fashion magazines. Makoto would deny it if anyone asked, but she knew deep down she was buying them because she had a massive gay crush on Ann Takamaki. 

It didn’t help that Ann seemed to remember her from high school.

“I… I think I also like her,” Makoto breathed subconsciously, before realizing what she said and blurting, “B-but I also like you too! I can have more than one crush! I’m…” She closed her eyes and sighed. “ _ AAAAAAA _ ” she lightly yelled.

Haru giggled her sweet giggle. “I suppose we’re both just as infatuated with Takamaki-san as we are with each other, then.” She smiled, and Makoto had a very dangerous idea.

“Do you think she’s into us?”

Haru cocked her head to the side. “Is she? I don’t think…  _ oh my god. _ ”

Makoto didn’t know what Haru was realizing, but she knew her thoughts. “She remembered me from high school, even though I was just a boring class president.”

“Right.”

“And she said I was the  _ cute  _ class president, too.”

“Mhm…”

“And I’m pretty sure Akira doesn’t talk to any straight people, like,  _ ever. _ ” Except Morgana, she didn’t say. “So she’s probably gay!” 

Haru laughed, and Makoto just looked at her in complete confusion. “Mako-chan, she was wearing a lesbian flag pin!” 

The nekomata mentally facepalmed at her stupidity as Haru let herself calm down. “Okay, but I think you might be onto something!” Haru affirmed.

“Go on.”

“She complimented my hair.”

“Mhm.”

“And my uniform.”

“It’s a cute uniform!”

“She also said she comes here every time I do a performance.”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean—”

“She told me she wanted to take me and my girlfriend on a date.”

“That’s pretty damning evid— wait hold on,  _ girlfriend? _ ” Makoto stepped away (after at least five minutes of Haru using her neck as a support, leaving a serious crick in her neck) as Haru dropped back to her heels. “You have another girlfriend?”

Haru squinted. “I think she was talking about you, Mako-chan.”

Suddenly, Makoto felt her cheeks heat up again. “A-am I your girlfriend?”

The auburnette, with a very dangerous look in her eye, stepped forwards. “Would you like to be?” She said, her tone very seductive. Makoto felt something in her core begin to shake.

She nodded.

“Good! I guess that’s settled!” Haru said, cheerful aura returning as she clapped her hands together.

Makoto sighed. “I think you’re supposed to take me on a date first, Haru.”

And the look returned to Haru’s eye. “Are you suggesting we take Takamaki-san’s offer?”

“Do you have her number?”

Haru nodded and pulled out a slip of paper. “I do! Do you want me to call her?” The pianist was met with a nod as she dialed the number. Makoto sat back in the desk chair and sorted the money while she listened to Haru talk. “Hey, Takamaki-san! It’s Haru, the girl from the coffee shop!”

_ “Oh! Okumura-san! I’m glad you called! So are you and your girlfriend interested?” _ Makoto heard. She looked over and saw Haru had put her phone on speaker.

“Well, we’re not  _ technically  _ girlfriends yet, but Mako-chan’s agreed, so I suppose I should too!”

_ “Wait, you two aren’t dating? But you two kept looking over at each other and blushing like total idiots! How could you not be?” _

Makoto choked on her spit.

“Well, I guess we were both just pining really hard, huh?” Haru answered with a grin. “Anyways, so where and when should we meet up? I can take you guys for crepes!”

Haru looked to Makoto for an answer. “I can close the store tomorrow so we can go,” the brunette whispered.

“Or we can go right now,” Haru whispered back.

_ “I’m in Kichijoji, I can just come pick you up and take you to the Jazz Jin,”  _ Ann replied, easily able to hear their consideration since she was on speakerphone and the two idiots in the office had completely forgotten.

Makoto nodded at Haru, allowing her to finish the arrangements. “It’s settled then. We’re just finishing up here, meet us in five?”

_ “Deal.” _

Makoto quickly finished counting the money before writing the bank checks and preparing the deposit for the next evening as Haru hung up the phone. She took Haru’s hand as they left the office, walking down the thin staircase side by side very awkwardly, and out of the store to see Ann waiting around the corner on her phone.

The blonde quickly turned to see the two girls. “You two ready to— woah.” Ann’s eyes went wide and her jaw dropped.

“I-is something wrong?” Makoto asked, a small worry filling her heart.

Haru looked at the nekomata, and Makoto could feel her gasp. “Mako-chan, you—”

“You’re a catgirl?!” Ann shouted.

_ Oh. That. _

_ Fuck. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed the chapter title bc I liked this one better tbh. cuz Haru is Noir, and Noir means black, and the night is black, and Nocturne- ok.


End file.
